The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to a system including an integrated circuit (IC), a package, and a printed circuit board (PCB). More specifically, the disclosure provided herein relates to methods of reducing power supply noise in a system including an IC, a package, and a PCB.
All electronic systems exhibit resonances at which power supply impedance increases significantly. Switching events having frequency components near such resonances can dramatically increase the overall power supply noise of the electronic system. This power supply noise can reduce timing margins on critical paths within the system and/or cause intermittent failure of data buses and other functional circuitry within the system.
Plots of impedance with respect to frequency at the ports of an electrical system have been used to determine impedance magnitudes and the frequencies at which resonances occur. However, these plots fail to provide any insight on whether the electrical system will suffer functional issues due to resonance, as the magnitude of the power supply noise is a function of the impedance and current at each frequency.